AFTER THE CREDITS:  The Corbomite Maneuver
by Ster J
Summary: What did Spock really mean when he said that the Balok puppet reminded him of his father?  Flashbacks marked with a line.


Title: AFTER THE CREDITS: The Corbomite Maneuver "Poop"

Author: Ster Julie

Contact:

Codes: TOS; Spock, Sarek/Amanda, Kirk, McCoy

Rated: PG

Part: 1/1

Summary: What did Spock _really_ mean when he said that the Balok puppet reminded him of his father?

_For T'Sia who first asked the question, which begat the plot bunny. I just ran with it!_

Flashbacks marked with a line.

Any Vulcan words are taken from that grand resource: the Vulcan Language Dictionary.

Disclaimer: Don't own Star Trek, or much of anything else, for that matter. I'll put everything back when I'm through, honest.

—ooOoo—

It was becoming a habit.

At the conclusion of any mission or incident, Starfleet required a debriefing of the department heads and any other personnel directly involved in said mission or incident.

It was the _after_ debriefing gathering that was becoming a habit.

Kirk, Spock, maybe McCoy, sometimes Scotty, would linger to "shoot the breeze" over each mission or incident in a more relaxed situation before each went off to write his own report.

Spock looked up to see Kirk and McCoy cast furtive glances at him before exchanging more meaningful looks with each other.

Spock sat back and waited for his two friends to summon enough courage to ask whatever illogical question they had on their minds. He would give them until 2200 hours, precisely 22.5 seconds away.

At 22:00:01, Spock rose. As he knew it would, his movement finally spurred his friends into speaking.

"Uh, Spock," Kirk began, "about that puppet Balok used …" Kirk flicked a glance at McCoy before he went on. "In what way did that puppet resemble your father?"

Spock sighed softly at yet another misunderstanding.

"Something can _remind_ one of someone else without any actual _resemblance_,' Spock explained.

"That doesn't answer the question, though, does it," McCoy interjected. "Why did the Balok puppet remind you of your father?"

Spock thought back to when he was barely two.

* * *

"_Please_ eat your peas, Baby," Amanda pleaded.

"No!" young Spock replied firmly.

"But they are good for you."

"No!"

But you and I grew these together."

"NO!"

"What is the meaning of all this noise?" Sarek demanded as he entered the dining room.

"Spock won't eat his peas," Amanda explained.

"Are these not the Rigellian brown peas you and Spock grew?" Sarek asked.

"Yes," she confirmed, "and with much difficulty. He _used_ to love … uh … eat them before with no problem.

Sarek looked sternly at his small obstinate son, his face an unblinking stony mask.

"_Sa-fu_," Sarek ordered, "You will eat all of your peas."

"No!"

Sarek consulted the antique grandfather clock Amanda had brought from Earth and notice that it was about to chime the hour. "I will give you three

Earth minutes to complete this task. I suggest you begin."

Spock crossed his little arms and tried to stare down his father.

"Two minutes," Sarek's voice boomed ominously sixty seconds later. The Ambassador had faced down far more threatening enemies. He could prevail in a battle of wills with a two year-old … couldn't he?

"One minute."

Spock's bravado was beginning to wane. He looked from his father to his mother to his plate and back to his father again.

"Thirty seconds."

Little Spock could hear the ancient clock began to wheeze as it prepared to strike the hour. Tears began to fill his eyes. His little chin began to quiver.

"No," he sniffled. "Can't."

"Explain."

Spock looked at his parents. Wasn't it obvious to them?

"Poop," he whispered as the clock chimed the hour.

Amanda gasped, then she began to giggle.

"I do not understand your reaction, _Aduna_," Sarek chided. "If the child needs to relieve himself …"

Amanda interrupted her staid _adun_ with a wave of her hand. She got down to her son's eye level and gazed at him warmly.

"You went to the home of T'Petz to day, right?" she asked. Spock nodded. "And you saw her bunny rabbit, didn't you?" Spock nodded again. "And when the bunny went potty, he made little round bits, right?" Spock nodded harder that time.

"Poop," he whispered again.

Amanda reached for one of the brown peas, but Spock's hand swatted it away.

"No, _Ko-ko_!" he warned. "Poop!"

"It's not poop," Amanda insisted. She managed to steal a pea from her son's dish and pop it into her mouth. "Ummmm," she crooned.

Spock gasped. He shook his head and declared the whole idea, "Ucky."

* * *

Spock smiled inwardly at the memory. "Gentlemen, have you never been issued an ultimatum by _your_ fathers?" Spock asked. He was answered by silence. "Good night Captain, Doctor," the Vulcan bade as he left the room.

Spock beat a hasty retreat and went straight to the ship's hydroponic gardens. His mother had never served him Rigellian brown peas in that form ever again. Instead she had devised a sort of vegan paté out of them which was more acceptable to her young son.

As Spock made his way to his private section of the garden, he was hard-pressed to keep his mouth from watering. His crop of Rigellian brown peas should be ready for harvest!

END


End file.
